Veris Residential Completes $85M Office Asset Sale

Veris Residential has completed the sale of Harborside 5, a 1 million-square-foot office tower in Jersey City, N.J., to 601W Cos. The deal, initiated last month, marks the firm’s transition to a multifamily REIT.

The buyer paid $85 million for the asset, The Real Deal reported, and the transaction involved a $65 million first-mortgage senior acquisition loan provided by Northwind Group. Some $45 million capitalized the purchase, while the rest are meant for an accretive leasing program.

This acquisition follows 601W Cos.’ purchase of Harborside 1, 2 and 3 from Veris in a $420 million portfolio transaction last year. These assets originally came online in 1929 as industrial buildings and were converted to office space in 1982. The new owner has already begun upgrading these properties.

Completed in 2002, the 33-story Harborside 5 underwent a cosmetic renovation in 2018. The building has floorplates averaging 87,500 square feet and includes some 9,500 square feet of retail space, according to CommercialEdge data. Regus and Hudson Cove are two of the property’s tenants.

Located at 5 Harborside Plaza, the office tower is within Jersey City’s waterfront district and near downtown. The property is also adjacent to the Exchange Place PATH train and ferry stations.

New Jersey office sales slow down

Throughout 2023, more than 9.3 million square feet of office space have changed hands across 61 sales in the New Jersey market for a total investment volume of more than $1.2 billion, CommercialEdge information shows. These figures represent a significant drop from the previous year, when 121 assets traded for a combined total of nearly $3.4 billion.

As 2024’s first quarter is coming to a close, there have been 10 office sales registered in the metro so far this year for a combined $212 million, according to the same source. Harborside 5 was the largest property to change hands.